Assault Weapon Recommendations: NJ

[Highland Ranger]

Handguns and shotguns not an issue - Looking to augment my collection with a defensive longarm/rifle.

I originally considered getting a lever action with 10 rounds in 44 mag because of the complications with our own homegrown AWB here in NJ which is still in effect. Seemed like a good compromise and I have several 44 mag handguns so not another cartridge to stock.

I'm told however that some "assault" style weapons are still legal here in NJ . . . . which got me thinking . . . .

So the question is, what's the recommendation, model and caliber for a 15 round rifle intended for self defense? And does this make more sense than the lever action 44 mag?

 

[mhdishere]

I know the SKS with non-detachable mag is legal in NJ, as are some AK-47 variants. The Garand too. Also the Colt Sporter and SA M1A.

 

[geekWithA.45]

post ban format AR's are jersey legal.

I bought this rifle in Jersey, when I lived there:

And it was jersey legal until a few days ago when I swapped out the fixed stock for the sliding stock.

10 round mags are pretty easy to come by, and 30 rounders blocked to 15 are legal too.

 

[Highland Ranger]

That looks black and evil . . . . exactly what I had in mind.

What caliber and how much $$$$$ - did you buy it here? Which store?

 

[DMK]

Looking to augment my collection with a defensive longarm/rifle.

I originally considered getting a lever action with 10 rounds in 44 mag because of the complications with our own homegrown AWB here in NJ which is still in effect. Seemed like a good compromise and I have several 44 mag handguns so not another cartridge to stock.

That sounds like just the ticket to me.

Lever action carbines served as self defense long arms for a long time and still will serve the purpose well, especially in your political climate.

For one, they are very reliable, east to mantain, and they are relatively economical to purchase. Bonus for you is you won't have to stock another caliber. I'm thinking about getting one in .357 for the same reason.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Highland Ranger:

It's a Bushmaster A2 Dissipator, which is a .223 AR er, XM variant.

From the factory, in jersey legal config, it looks like this:

(The telescoping stock is the only feature not jersey legal)

Details here: http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/weapons/pcwa2s16d.asp

MSRP is $995, I got mine for like uh...$775 IIRC

The tac grip was like $30, and the military holosight was about $300.

(Holosights come in 2 flavors, civilian, and military. The military models have a night vision setting, a steel guard around the glass, and the electronics are epoxied to provide additional shock handling capability)

In addition to being a credible defense carbine, it's most definately a happy! fun! plinking! gun!

I got it a few years back at what used to be Eagle Eye Range down in West Deptford, NJ. The Zimms sold out to Hogue, who primarily used to be a wholesaler & police supplier.

Hogue's is you south jersey central for "evil" armaments of all sorts. He's one of the few NJ gun dealers who specializes in such. When I walked in on opening day, he had a Barret on display, and I thought to myself, "I'm gonna get along with this guy just fine."

With all his police trade ins, you can get great deals on used stuff. At one point, he had a BIN full of Berretta 92s, for like $250, another bin full of folding stock pump shotties, your pick, $150 each, and so on.

Anyway, I digress. One of the most fun things about the AR (ahem) XM is that it's the tinkertoy of rifles, you can dress them up anyway you want.

If money's an issue, you might want to take a look into building one yourself. You buy the stripped lower reciever from an FFL, and order the parts from any of a number of places to put it all together, shopping carefully will save you a couple hundred bucks.

 

[Sunray]

"...what's the recommendation, model and caliber for a 15 round rifle intended for self defense?..." No question. An M-1 carbine with 110 grain HP handloads. Accurate, low felt recoil and it'll blow a hole the size of a grapefruit in meat. Mostly without going through walls. A .223 will punch through walls. You are legally responsible for any round you fire.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Sunray:

You'll also spend up to 15 years in jail, have a felony rap, and never touch a gun again. M1 Carbines are classified as AW's by name in Jersey, and posession of HP outside of severely constrained circumstances are banned too.

 

[Bushmaster225]

You can get the Bushmaster with a fixed Tele stock. Basically it has the look, but can't collapse.

Bushmaster are great in the Peoples Republic.

Also, Yugo SKS are good. You might want to look at a SAR-1,2, or 3. Which are also legal. I have the 1 and 2. Stay away from the 3. I think SAR are getting hard to come by but, the WASP is legal.

This is what I'm going at getting next. http://www.sarcoinc.com/guns14-4.html

Check with this Company in North Jersey www.sarcoinc.com they suck in customer service, but they are great for evil looking jersey legal stuff.

When I tried to find out if the SAR's were legal, I called the State Police and they wouldn't give me an answer either way. But, what they did say was "If Sarco says its legal, then its legal."

Only in NJ

http://www.gunsnet.net/album//showphoto.php?photo=1815&size=big&sort=1&cat=500

http://www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/130712_AKs.JPG

 

[roscoe]

Are Saigas legal?

 

[geekWithA.45]

NJ AWB in a nutshell:

Misc: streetsweepers, ie revolver shotguns etc banned by feature list.

Handguns: I don't remembers, so I'll remain silent, lest I lead anyone astray.

Rifles: There are about 20 rifles banned by name. Any rifle that does not bear that name, and does not blow the evil feature count, which is pretty much the same as the former federal AWB is not unlawful. (Hows that for lawyerspeak?)


Traditionally stocked saiga rifles are Okeydokey, as far as I know, they only have 1 evil feature, the detacheable magazine.

Long story short: You're on pretty firm ground if you buy the rifle from an NJ FFL. Those guys toe the line. Most of the PA ffl's know the deal as well, and won't sell you anything unlawful.

BTW, many, many Jersey FFL's are cowed, and won't sell politically incorrect arms of any type, but that's them pandering to soccer moms and duck hunters more than anything else.

 

[Dbl0Kevin]

posession of HP outside of severely constrained circumstances are banned too.

That's sorta blown out of proportion a bit. You can buy HP at a store, take it home, take it to the range, and possess it in your house. Only time you run into a problem is if you have HP rounds on you outside your home, which isn't THAT much of a problem since no one can get a CCW in NJ anyway.

 

[PAC 762]

...which isn't THAT much of a problem since no one can get a CCW in NJ anyway.

Unless something changed in the past 5 years, a common subject will nnot be granted a CCW permit.

You need to be sleeping with a politician to get one.

 

[El Rojo]

Mostly without going through walls [refering to the .30 carbine round]. A .223 will punch through walls.

This is sort of off topic, but the .30 carbine round will go through a common household window, travel 30 yards, go through a common household wall, through a dry equarium glass tank, and then stop against a petrified rock. Yes I know this as fact and no I don't really want to discuss it. Any rifle you have is going to penetrate a wall or two in your common residential house or complex.

I vote for the AR if you can get one. I can't so you might as well. Next choice would be a Garand followed up by the lever gun in .44 mag (since you already have one) or .357. If you can, get all three.

 

[RavenVT100]

Please do not refer to them as "assault weapons." They're not.

It makes me cringe every time I hear a fellow gunner use that term. It's bad juju. They're normal, autoloading rifles that just happen to be milled out of aluminum instead of wood and steel.

 

[Highland Ranger]

Yeah I was going to say normal, autoloading rifles that just happen to be milled out of aluminum instead of wood and steel that will be used for self defense but it just doesn't have the same ring to it . . . . .

 

[MAUSER88]

Pretty much any semi-auto rifle in post ban configuration and 922r compliant that is NOT mentioned by name on the NJ AWB is legal. I agree, getting a dealer to transfer it to you may be a problem. I bought the SAR 1, 2 & 3 from Sarco when they had them. Aslo had a FAL built from a parts kit on a new receiver.

 

[9mmMike]

Aslo had a FAL built from a parts kit on a new receiver.

I thought FAL's were on the no-no list.

 

[MAUSER88]

As long as the receiver is not marked FN or FAL it's good to go. I bought my receiver from The Dealers Warehouse in CA. and it's not marked as such. My dealer said it was OK.

 

[benEzra]

Mostly without going through walls [refering to the .30 carbine round]. A .223 will punch through walls.

Depending on the load used, a .223 can be either better or worse than .30 carbine in the penetration department. 40-grain .223 JHP's are among the least penetrative of ALL non-frangible rifle or handgun rounds in building materials, since they tend to go to pieces when they hit anything hard. They don't have a lot of penetration in gelatin (8" or so with complete fragmentation?), but SWAT teams used to use them a LOT and didn't seem to have a lot of complaints about its terminal effects.

 

[atek3]

I'd go with the AR and Garand in that order.

atek3

 

[Gewehr98]

*** is an Assault Weapon?

 

[bernie]

I pondered the same question with one advantage, I do live in a free state. My decision was the .44 Magnum lever gun. It may be replaced someday by a .357 lever. My thoughts were, wood and steel would probably be less trouble in a courtroom situation, .44 magnum is plenty powerfull (it doubles as my deer rifle), it carries well, you can rack the lever making a great "get out of here now" sound, and staring down a .44 caliber tube could be very demoralizing. The size of the bore sounds a little goofy from a fight or flight standpoint, but I was staring down the bore of a .25 one time and it looked like a subway tunnel!
If worse comes to worse, you could also club someone pretty hard with the lever gun if you had to.

 

[Red Tornado]

Since you have handguns and shotguns aplenty, it seems the close range stuff is covered. Presumably if you're shooting inside, you'll be using one or the other of those. So I'm guessing you're looking at longer range or just completing the set. With that thinking (you're not paying for my opinion, I can make up my own parameters ) I'd go with a Garand since shooting through walls isn't a problem.

I'm not an EBR fan, (Don't flame me, they're great weapons, I just think they're really, really ugly) so I'm biased for wood, however, I truly believe every American needs a Garand. If not for the history, then just because they're so beautiful and cool and full powered.

If you already have/don't like/don't want an M1, I think a nice .44 Mag lever gun would be very hard to beat. I kind of like the idea of a big, fat, heavy bullet for HD. Plus if you handload, you can make it to your own specs.

Plus I'm a huge fan of the idea of having a hangun(s) and long gun(s) in the same caliber. YMMV. Have fun with whatever you decide.
Good luck,
RT

 

[rauchman]

Greetings from a fellow Jerseyite,

I've seen the following in gun stores. As someone else mentioned as long as the weapon meets the 94-04 AWB and it's not listed specifically by the NJ AWB it's ok.

PTR91 - HK G3 or 91 clone
M1A1
M1 Garand
AR15's of various makes - no flash hiders, telescoping stocks, or bayonet lugs
HK SL8
HK USC
Beretta Storm
DSA FN clones - presumably other clones as well configured for the 1994 - 2004 AWB
Romanian SAR series
Vepr AK clones

Again, I've personally seen these in NJ gun shops. With magazines, you can have greater than 15 round capacity mags. However, they have to be blocked. The most popular method that I have seen is taking a wood dowel, cutting it to a length that prohibits more than 15 rounds in a mag. I've been to SARCO and they sell preblocked 30 round AR mags. I don't know how they block the mags though. I've also heard of folks taking a 30 round mag and putting 15 empty casings in it followed by 15 live rounds. Having said all of that, I have heard Gun Store stories involving the NJ ATF raiding a man's house because they had heard he was selling 30 round mags for a Ruger Mini 14. If you call the NJ State Police, you can get a different answer depending on who you talk to. Unfortunately, the NJ laws are pretty vague.